Seoul Based Photographer

Festivals

I have mentioned before in one of my article Festivals Of Korea for Everydaykorea.com that Korea is the land of festival or “축제” (chukje)- in Hangeul. They have a huge number of festival and they are so versatile that you will be surprised. I always look for time to get to these festivals and take a break from everything, to get fresh with a new city, food and nature. Every time I go to a new city in Korea either for festival or visit, I try to stay at least one night there in that way I have more time to explore as well more time to relax.

From first year of my stay in Korea in 2012 I always wanted to Visit this great display over Namgang River in JInju, and finally forced myself to go there. And fortunately Korea Tourism Organization arranged Global Groups – for tours during festival allover Korea, and I got the chance to go for Jinju Lantern Festival as well Daegu Herb Medicine Festival. Many thanks to organizer for providing us great transportation, food, guide, accommodation and most importantly good friends whom we met over tour.

The Jinju Lantern Festival takes place every year for 10 days in October, featuring hundreds of lanterns not only floating on the Nam River, but also scattered inside the Jinju fortress and castles. The festival is held to commemorate the patriotic spirit of the 70,000 militia corps and government troops who died for their country defending Jinju from the Japanese forces during the Imjinwaeran War (Japanese invasion, 1592).

Transportation

Take an intercity bus to Jinju Intercity Bus Terminal.
Exit the terminal towards the river.
Turn right, and walk for 5min to arrive at the festival site.

Andong (안동) in Gyeongsangbuk-do, is well known for jjimdak (찜닭) a mouth watering spicy steamed chicken, Mask Dance Fastival which is held every year, Hahoe Folk Village where you can actually see and feel life around 100 years back and Andong is the home of Confucianism in Korea. During the Joseon Dynasty, Andong attracted scores of Confucian scholars becoming a pioneering city in Confucian thought. This city also contained the highest number of private schools from the Joseon Dynasty as well as Confucian schools. To this day, Andong still has around 26 private schools from the Joseon Dynasty. This city also acted as a home to the noble class during the Joseon period. Now with all these attraction who wouldn’t visit Andong specially when International Mask Dance Festival is Going on.

Hahoe Village was my First Destination, Only one Bus no 46 will take you there from Downtown of from Andong bus terminal, during festival its hard to even get on the bus. But once you are there you will forget the bus ride and will be amazed.

Mask Dance Festival in Mask Dance Theater in Downtown

Another Very Popular Tourist destination in Andong is “Wolyeonggyo” Wolyeonggyo Bridge (387m in length and 3.6m in width) is the longest pedestrian overpass made of wood in Korea.

Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain (반포대교 달빛무지개분) is a very popular name in Seoul, Korea or even enthusiasts around the world who knows a little about kDrama! It is well deserved because, Banpo bridge is worlds longest bridge fountain. The rainbow fountain show with music for 15 mins attracts a loot of people beneath it. The fountain is programmed to play different shows during the day and night. During the day, the fountain shows a hundred different configurations meant to evoke waving willow branches and willow leaves. When the sun goes down, 200 lights illuminate the fountain as it sends up dancing, rainbow-colored jets of water in the air in synchronization with music.

Han River is heaven for seoul citizens apart from the freezing winter because it offers a lot to be honest. Hangang Park is composed of Gwangnaru, Jamsil, Ttukseom, Jamwon, Banpo, Ichon, Yeouido, Yanghwa, Mangwon, Seonyudo, Nanji, and Gangseojigu – a total of 12 districts. Each park has its unique characteristics that fit the district, and especially Yeouido, Jamsil, and Ttukseom districts are very popular because of the ferry cruise services on Hangang River. Banpo Hangang park is one of the major of them, and the main attraction is Banpo Bridge Fountain show, apart from a free open air movie theater, Amazing floating island ( Soon I will write about them 🙂 ) and of course delivery of chicken and pizza and beer right where you are sitting and enjoying your evening with your beloved ones.

Home of Le Petit Prince in Gapyeong-gun, (Gyeonggi-do, Korea) is another amazing place to visit in weekend as its just 1 hour drive from Seoul. Because the place is so popular mainly because of Korean drama’s location, traffic in weekends can easily add 1 more extra hour.After travelling 10 km along the lakeside road from Cheongpyeong Dam, in the direction of Namiseom Island, you will come across a cluster of white, exotic buildings on the left-hand hillside. From its outward appearance, it would appear to be a village that belongs on the Mediterranean coast or in a pastoral area of the Piedmont Alps. This is Petite France, a French cultural village set in the Korean countryside! Petite France serves as both a French cultural village and a youth training facility (Goseong Youth Training Center), and consists of 16 French-style buildings where visitors can lodge and experience French food, clothing, and household culture.

The place is amazingly beautiful and the architecture will take you to a land of fairytale ofPetite France encapsulates ‘flowers, stars, and the Little Prince.’ With good enough transportation its ok to spend a half a day there and return home, also they have pensions and hotels inside Petite France and you can spend the night over there with a real French environment.

Direction:

From Dong Seoul Bus Terminal or Sangbong Bus Terminal. Take an intercity bus to Cheongpyeong (청평).From Cheongpyeong Bus Terminal, take a local bus bound for Petite France. (The Bus has specific times to start) Taxi will cost you 16000won to 18000won($16~$18).

By subway: Go to Cheongpyeong Station (청평) either itx/normal subway. From there take Bus to Petite France.

Cheongpyeong (청평) is a popular place just outside Seoul because its connecting a lot of destination like Petite France, Garden of Morning Calm, Namisom etc. also hundreds of water resorts and parks. Hotels and Korean restaurants are available near bus terminal.

These are some of my favorite Pictures of Seoul, looked up on my archive for #Seoulsync a Seoul based website, up on there request of submitting these photos for there website and Social networking medias.

South Seoul Night SkylineThe City that never sleepsSky Park SeoulMy fav view of Eulalia Feast 2013 on top of Sky Park SeoulThe Royal Thorn of The Royal Palace, SeoulThe Fearless entertainer, Namseoul Hanok Village, SeoulThe best was to enjoy Han river is to take the bike and just keep riding

The Lotus Lantern Festival is held every year on April 8th (lunar calendar) in honor of Buddha’s Birth. The festival is preceded by hanging of lotus-shaped lanterns across Seoul for several weeks, and officially kicks off with lighting of the Jangeumdang, a large lantern that symbolizes Buddhism and Buddha’s Birthday, at the Seoul Plaza. The celebration continues with a wide array of Buddhist programs and activities, before ending with an impressive lantern parade in the heart of Seoul.